


Welcome to the family

by CreeperEyes



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Amputation, Blood and Gore, Cannibalism, Eveline is pure evil, Gen, Jack is sadistic, Kidnapping, Lucas is creepy, Marguerite is also creepy, Vomiting, chainsaws
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-11-08 08:00:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11077371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreeperEyes/pseuds/CreeperEyes
Summary: What Eveline wants, she gets. No exceptions.Car trouble brings two young men, Carter and Wiley, to the Baker estate. Once Eveline sees the boys, her mind is made up: they're going to be her new brothers wether they like it or not, so she has Jack and Marguerite 'adopt' them.Slight one sided Lucas/Carter, but no pairings other than that.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place when Eveline was still in child form, and before Lucas got freed from her.

“I’m telling you, it was a baby gator! You squashed a baby gator.” Wiley stated as if it was legitimate fact.

“It wasn’t a gator, Wiley. It was probably a raccoon or a possum or something.” Carter said as he flipped up the hood of his car.

Carter’s 2002 Toyota wasn’t exactly a luxury car, and it had slowed down from 45 mph to a crawl a few minutes after he had squashed an unfortunate small animal beneath its tires. It wasn’t his fault the thing had just stood there instead of running to safety.

The boys had been on their way to a concert, but now that the car crapped out, it looked they might be a little late. Everything had been in working order when they left, it wasn’t until they approached the backwoods area of Dulvey, Louisiana that the vehicle began to falter.

“God, it is hot as FUCK.” Wiley pushed his long brown hair out of his face and gestured to the black knit hat Carter was wearing. “How can you be wearing a hat? It’s like, four hundred degrees out here.”

Carter just shrugged. Wiley wasn’t wrong, it was hot out, and the humidity wasn’t helping at all. The air was very heavy and thick, which gave the impression that a severe storm would be passing through soon. Hopefully they could get on their way before the downpour began.

Something moved in the swampy, lily pad choked pond behind the car, catching Wiley’s attention. Ripples appeared in the green water as an alligator surfaced and began swimming towards the shore. It was a big one, at least fifteen feet in length, and it had it’s mouth open, showcasing all of it’s many sharp teeth. Carter, caught up in examining the car’s engine, failed to notice this.

“Watch out Carter...momma gator’s come to get you!” Wiley taunted.

At these words, Carter turned around to see the gator on the shore. It was now laying down and sunbathing as a bird rested on it head, but it seemed to be staring directly at him.

“Oh yeah? Why would she do that?” he countered.

“Because,” Wiley pointed at the bloody animal remains caked into the treads of the car’s tires, “You crushed her baby. She’s thinking about how tasty you’re going to be.”

Carter laughed. “She’s going to eat you too. You’re an accessory to the hit and run. If that actually was a gator. Which is wasn’t. Just look, there’s no scales on my car or anything.”

“If you say so...but if that gator eats you, you’re last actions will be realizing how wrong you are.” Wiley said. His words could have been mistaken as hostile, but he was merely joking around. 

Teasing and joking around was commonplace in their relationship. They had met seventeen years ago, way back in kindergarten. Carter had stolen Wiley’s toy car, and Wiley had called Carter a dumb poopy face. But then in typical kid fashion, they forgave each other five minutes later and they had been best friends since then. They had been through nearly everything together, both good and bad, and referred to themselves as heterosexual life partners. Best friends for life.

Wiley ambled over to the front of the car and stood near his friend, practically towering over him. Wiley was on the tall side at 6’2’’ while Carter was rather short for a guy, standing at only 5’8’’.

“Did you find the problem?” 

“Yeah.” Carter said flatly with irritation in his voice. He held up the car’s now useless battery. “The battery’s dead.”

Wiley sighed and pulled out his phone. “I’ll call a tow truck. Hopefully it won’t be too expensive.”

“Hold off on that, actually. Look behind you.” Carter said. 

Wiley did so and saw an old wooden sign nailed to a nearby tree. The yellow letters painted on it were faded and a bit hard to read, but he was able to make it out.

Baker Estate 1 mile

“Someone lives around here. We could probably get a jump for free.” Carter suggested.

“Good eye! I didn’t even see that.”

The road leading to the estate was well used, but completely surrounded by trees and other plants, making it look like a tunnel made entirely of vegetation. There was a slightly odd, almost otherworldly feel to it, but neither of the guys could put their finger on it.

“It’s a tunnel made of trees! I feel like we’re about to walk into a fantasy realm.” Carter noted as they walked along.

“Maybe we’ll find a forest nymph. Like a fairy who lives here in the woods. A really sexy one, with long blonde hair just barely covering her ample breasts....” Wiley trailed off.

Carter rolled his eyes. “You’re going on about magical elf girls instead of talking to real women, and you call me a nerd because I genuinely enjoyed science class all throughout high school. A bit hypocritical, don’t you think?”

“There’s nothing nerdy about tits, Carter.” 

“Right. Unless they’re on a mythical creature like a fairy. That, my friend, is extremely nerdy.”

The two carried on poking fun at each other until they arrived at the Baker estate. The house was massive, and definitely worthy of being called a mansion. Despite it’s grand size, it appeared to be in poor repair, as the wood seemed rotted in some areas and the paint was peeling. Junk was strewn about the yard and the bushes growing near the front steps looked like they hadn’t been trimmed in years. There was also a barn and a trailer in the immediate vicinity, but the guys ignored them in favor a of the main house.

“This place looks abandoned. Maybe coming down here was a waste of time.” Wiley said as they walked through the yard.

“There’s lights on though.” Carter replied. 

He walked up the front steps, and they creaked and groaned as he did so. The doorbell was grimed with dirt, but he rang it anyway.

Heavy footsteps were heard a second later, and Carter wondered what kind of person was going to answer the door. He had a feeling it was going to be some toothless hick who didn’t know what the internet was, but then again he didn’t wan’t to be too judgmental. Perhaps it would be a friendly toothless hick instead of a stereotypical inbred psycho whose hobbies included incest and fucking barnyard animals to death.

His question was answered as the door was yanked open with great force, revealing a balding bearded man who looked to be in his early fifties. He was wearing wire rim glasses and a button up yellow shirt. The look on his face, however, was not of the friendly welcoming variety. 

“What the hell do you want?!” he asked in an angry tone.

“Uh,” Wiley was a bit taken aback by the man’s rudeness.

“Yeah. Our car broke down,” Carter explained after a second of silence. “About a mile down the road. The battery’s dead. We were wondering if you had some jumper cables.”

“Daddy, who’s at the door?” a little girl’s voice sounded from somewhere within the house, and the man turned to address the unseen child. 

“Just some passers by, sweetie.” 

More footsteps, these ones light and delicate, were heard and a young girl came to the front door. She looked to be about ten years old and had a very mysterious aura about her. She was wearing a black dress, black boots, and had shoulder length black hair that seemed to shimmer unnaturally.

She stared intently at the boys, studying them.

The short one had dark brown hair that was on the shaggy side, brown eyes, and had his lip and both of his ears pierced. He was clad in a grey mechanic’s shirt with his name stitched into it and was wearing a black knit hat. He was staring back at her with an uneasy expression.

The tall one had shoulder length hair like her, but his was light brown, slightly wavy and shone in the sunlight. His blue eyes were friendly and curious. He was dressed similar to his friend, except he was wearing a red plaid shirt instead of a grey work shirt. She smiled. 

“You have pretty hair,” the girl complimented him. “Do you want to be my new brother?”

“Huh? You’re new brother?” Wiley asked. 

“Yeah. My brother Lucas is stupid!” the girl pouted. 

“Why is he stupid?” 

“Because he won’t play with me! I want to have a makeover with my dolls, but he won’t play with me.”

“Evie, honey. Lucas is too old for that.” the man at the door spoke up again, but his voice was now soft instead of aggressive.

The presence of the girl seemed to have brightened his mood considerably, because all of his former hostility had suddenly vanished.

“Sorry for being rude, boys. I’ve just been having a hell of a day.” he began. “One of those days where nothing goes right. But my daughter Evie here, she’s my sweet little angel.”

The man looked too old to be the girl’s father and the two didn’t seem to share any physical attributes, which made Carter wonder if the girl had been adopted. He kept that thought to himself though. Something about the kid felt off, like she was a real life version of a cliche creepy movie kid.

“Anyways, looks like I’m not the only one. I can fix your car up nice. Fixing things is a hobby of mine, and I’ve got a whole garage full of tools. In fact, I’ve been itching to work on a new project lately. The name’s Jack, by the way.” the man continued.

“Nice to meet you, Jack. I’m Carter, and this is Wiley.” Carter said informatively. 

“Pleased to meet you boys!” Jack reached out for a handshake and squeezed Carter’s hand so hard he felt joints pop, then gave Wiley the same vice like death grip. The girl giggled as he did this.

“Don’t break them, daddy. I want to play with them.”

Wiley and Carter looked at each other. They hadn’t expected the old man to be so brutally strong. The guy could probably knock out a bear with one punch with that sort of strength.

“Marguerite! Get those sandwiches from the fridge, we’ve got guests!” Jack hollered back into the house, then turned forwards again. “Come on in. I’ll get those jumper cables from the garage, and you can have snacks while you wait.”

“That’s great. Thank you.” Carter said as he stepped inside.

The inside of the house was in just as poor shape as the outside. What was likely once a beautiful house was now drab and dreary. Wall paper was peeling off in strips, junk was piled up, a sheen of dust covered nearly everything, and mildew covered the warped baseboards. Worst of all were the thin trails of black mold that snaked over some sections of the walls. It smelled like a load of laundry that had been left in the washer for a month.

Carter subconsciously wrinkled his nose as he took in his surroundings. How could these people stand to live in such filth? Did they just not care?

A feeling of uncertainty began to wash over him. He wasn’t sure why, but the girl was setting him on edge, and he didn’t want to be stuck alone with her.

Wiley, on the other hand, didn’t seem bothered by her at all. He was looking around and trying to see into each room.

Jack shut the front door behind him and motioned for the guys to follow. “Come on now, the others are in the kitchen. My wife will get you something to eat.”

Wiley followed without hesitation, but Carter was more reluctant. Part of him didn’t want to follow, though he didn’t even know why. A bigger part of him, his more logical side, was nagging at him to stop being such a pussy.

Trying to push away his apprehensiveness, Carter followed.


	2. Chapter 2

The other two members of the family were waiting in the dining area. A woman in her late forties was fussing about in the kitchen in a rather erratic fashion, putting dishes and utensils into cabinets seemingly at random. Her brunette hair was tied back into a messy ponytail and she was clad in a long skirt.

The young man sitting at the table hunched over his phone was presumably Lucas. He was tall but thin, with very long spider like limbs. He was wearing a dark green hoodie with the letters LCS on it, and the hood was obscuring most of his face. He didn’t even look up as Jack and Eveline lead Carter and Wiley into the room.

Jack strode over to the woman and greeted her with a kiss followed by a smack on the ass.

“Hey there, hotstuff! We’ve got some company. These boys here are having a bit of car trouble. That’s Carter, and the other one’s Riley.”

“It’s Wiley, actually.” Wiley stated informatively.

Jack chuckled. “Sorry son, I think my memory’s starting to go in my old age.”

“Oh daddy, you aren’t that old.” Eveline added.

Everything now seemed fairly normal save for the messy state of the home, but there was still a hint of something odd in the air. The flowers on the dining room table were shriveled and had obviously been dead for a long time, but it apparently they were still considered to be a pleasant decoration. That wasn’t the only concerning factor though. Perhaps it was the way the woman, Marguerite, was haphazardly putting dishes away in many different cabinets. Maybe it was the overly sexual way Jack greeted her. Or possibly it was the fact that Lucas’ limbs seemed a little _too_ long. Carter wasn’t alone in feeling this way, as Wiley was starting to feel it too.

Marguerite finally acknowledged her two guests. “Hello darlings! I’m Marguerite, but you can call me Marge if you’d like. I see you’ve met my husband Jack. That there is my son, Lucas. He’s my pride and joy.”

Lucas ignored them all and continued playing a game on his phone.

It was as if a switch flipped.

The former pleasant atmosphere was shattered instantly as Jack lunged at Lucas and slapped him so hard it echoed through the room and sent him almost falling out of his chair.

“Damn it, Lucas! We have guests! Why do you always have to be such an antisocial little faggot, huh?!” Jack roared as blood from Lucas’ nose dripped from his hand.

“Fuck you, dad!” Lucas shouted back at him as he held a hand to his nose, which was now gushing blood. “You’re such an asshole, always hurting me just because you feel like it! You treat fuckin’ ZOE with more respect!”

That name must have been a trigger for Marguerite, because she completely flipped out.

“Don’t say her name!” she screeched, suddenly seething with anger. “She’s no longer a part of this family! I wish I’d never given birth to that wretched, pathetic child!”

Jack and Lucas stared at each other with pure, burning hatred and Marguerite looked ready to kill both of them. 

They had completely forgotten about their guests, who had been dumbstruck and watched the scene unfold with horror.

“Holy shit...we need to go. NOW.” Carter commanded in a hushed tone. Wiley said nothing but silently nodded in agreement.

They had been right all along. These people were definitely the insane and dangerous type. At the very least, Jack was a raging asshole who physically abused his son and probably his wife as well.

Eveline suddenly sprung into action and jumped between Jack and Lucas. 

“Stop it!” she demanded. “You’re scaring the guests away!” 

“Oh.” that was all Jack said as he backed away. Marguerite and Lucas stepped back as well, almost like they were being controlled by the girl.

“Time out! Stop fighting! Now, everyone go into separate rooms and calm down.”

Nobody questioned Eveline. They simply walked away without a fight.

With the Baker family in time out, she was now alone with her potential brothers.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” she began.

Wiley and Carter exchanged worried glances. It was abundantly clear that Eveline was the ruler of this household even though she was just a child. That was wrong on so many levels, and her mentality seemed to be far greater than what that of a ten year old’s should be. Everything about her was wrong.

“Mom and dad have been fighting a lot lately. When they get angry, they like to take it out on Lucas. He’ll usually hit them back, but I didn’t let him this time.” Eveline continued. 

Carter shifted uncomfortably. Eveline’s words were ringing in his head. _I didn’t let him this time._ Just who the hell was this kid?

“I don’t like it when mom and dad fight. It makes me sad. Is it because of me? Am I a bad daughter?” Eveline was crying now, but her tears didn’t seem genuine.

She stood there quietly sobbing to herself as she waited to get sympathy. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Wiley broke first.

“Hey, don’t cry,” he began. “Your parents love you. Because that’s what parents do. And because I’m sure you’re a....really...good kid.” He had to force those last three words out and sounded the exact opposite of convincing.

Marguerite rushed into the room and picked Eveline up, holding her in her arms. “My poor baby is upset! What’s wrong honey? What happened?”

“Why do you and daddy get mad so often?” Eveline asked as more tears leaked from her eyes.

“Ohhh,” Marguerite kissed the top of her head. “Does that upset you?”

Eveline nodded.

“I’m sorry. And daddy is sorry too. It’ll never happen again. We just want you to be happy.” 

As Marguerite gave Eveline a comforting hug, she turned to look at the boys, and the smile she gave them was downright sadistic. She was playing on the emotions of her family to get them to cater to her every demand, and it was almost as if she was purposely showing off this tactic to the boys. She was manipulative on a professional level, and Carter got the feeling that she was also the type to make up grandiose lies and successfully convince others they were true. And if he looked under her bed, he’d probably find three birds with their heads cut off. It wouldn’t surprise him at all if Eveline grew up to be a serial killer.

Eveline, apparently satisfied with the correct amount of coddling, had her mother put her down.

“I’m going to go play now, but you need to behave from now on.” she said.

“We will, dear.” Marguerite replied.

As she left, Lucas strode back into the room. His face was now blood free and he oddly looked like he had never been hit in the first place. Marguerite addressed him.

“Lucas, do you want to go get your father now that we’ve all calmed down? Do you know where he is?”

“He’s down at the old house, boarding up the windows. It’s going to storm real bad later, and he doesn’t want water getting in there.” Lucas explained.

“Old house? He said he was going to jump our car.” Wiley said with dismay.

“I’m sure he’ll get around to it later.”

Thinking fast, Carter made up an excuse. “I’ll just call a tow truck. We’re on a tight schedule.”

“Ain’t going to get one out here,” Lucas mused and looked up at him.

Lucas was leaning over the kitchen counter, and for the first time Carter was able to get a better look at his face. He had red rimmed icy blue eyes that scanned him top to bottom, like he was mentally undressing him. The smirk on his face only served to further this assumption.

Carter blatantly ignored this and tried to look up towing services on his phone. Tried was the key word, as he couldn’t get a signal.

“There’s no signal.” he tried to sound as neutral about it as he could, but on the inside he was panicking. If he couldn’t get a tow truck, he was going to have to sit here and wait for Jack to jump his car. If he even would. Maybe Jack was going to drive him and Wiley out to some desolate location, murder them, and feed their corpses to the alligators.

“Oh, that happens sometimes when the weather gets bad. Lucas always whines when he loses the signal. Don’t worry about it,” Marguerite waved her hand dismissively, like it was a totally normal thing that happened all the time.

Wiley looked out of the dining room windows and gazed up at the sky. What had earlier been a beautiful blue sky had been taken over by a mass of grey with a hint of green.

“That’s not good,” he mused. “The sky looks kind of green.”

“Yeah, it really does. Hopefully there won’t be a hurricane.” Carter joined him at the window since Lucas’ staring was starting to make him uncomfortable. While he didn’t want to drive through a vicious storm, it was a chance he was willing to take.

“Nah, it won’t be a hurricane. But it’s going to be a nasty storm, that’s for sure.” Jack signaled his return to the kitchen. “I’ve got to protect the old house from water damage. I know you boys need to be on your way, I just have to do this first.”

“Okay,” Carter said with mock pleasantness. “How long do you think that’ll take? An hour maybe?” 

“Yeah, probably around an hour. There somewhere you need to be?” Jack asked.

“We’re going to see Rotting Christ. They’re a Greek metal band.” Wiley said.

“Never heard of them.”

Marguerite shook her head in distaste upon hearing the band name, but she chose not to say anything. Instead, she took a tray of sandwiches out of the fridge.

“Do you boys want a snack? It’ll be a few hours before dinner is ready.”

“Hell yeah! I love these!” Lucas snatched one from the tray and savagely sank his teeth into it.

Neither Carter nor Wiley wanted to risk offending their unstable hosts, so they both moved forward to take one. 

“Here you go sweeties!” Marguerite handed one to each of them. “You’re more than welcome to have seconds if you’d like, as I’ve got plenty.”

Upon examination, the sandwiches seemed normal enough. The bread was free of mold, the cheese looked alright and the ham was pink just like it should be. It seemed to pass inspection, so Carter deemed it safe for consumption.They were just regular ham sandwiches, how bad could they be?

Wiley eagerly bit into his, but within seconds the expression on his face turned to disgust and a bizarre black fluid began to ooze from the corner of his mouth. He wanted to spit it out, but he forced himself to swallow the bite since everyone was watching him intently.

Carter stared at his own untouched sandwich with horror. The formerly white bread began to turn grey in the center as the black fluid started to run out the sides. Of everything he had seen so far, this was by far the most disturbing. 

It didn’t seem to bother the Bakers though. Jack and Lucas demolished theirs, and the bizarre black stuff coated their teeth. Marguerite ate hers more delicately, but was still making a bit of a mess. Eveline, who had suddenly and silently slipped into the room, ripped the crust off hers before picking at it slightly.

The black stuff was poison. It had to be. 

“You know, I’m actually not that hungry.” Carter spoke up.

“But mommy made that just for you.” Eveline said. 

“No, really. I’m good.”

“Don’t waste food. Eat it.”

Carter cringed. He knew that wasn’t a request, it was an order. One that would probably yield bad results if he didn’t comply. Eveline was in charge here, and she was making that very obvious.

He felt four pairs of eyes glaring at him. Never in his twenty two years of existence had he felt such peer pressure to do something. But unlike smoking weed for the first time, eating this nasty sandwich was something he did NOT want to do.

“Come on now. Don’t be rude. Try it.” Marguerite’s voice was no longer sweet and friendly, but cold and stern.

Beside him, Wiley was eating his sandwich with great difficulty, as he kept gagging and Carter could see that he was trying desperately not to puke.

He looked down at his own sandwich in pure disgust. He had no idea how he’d manage to eat it without throwing up. If he did throw up, it would probably deeply offend Marguerite, and who knows what she’d do then. The black stuff didn’t seem natural at all, and he wondered if it would kill him or give him some awful disease.

“Will you just eat the fucking thing? Eveline won’t let any of us leave the room until you eat your food. So eat it!” Lucas demanded.

Carter took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself for the task. Pretend eating was out of the question since the entire Baker family was staring right at him, watching his every move. There was no way out of this. He lifted the repugnant snack and watched the black liquid drip onto his hand as he did so. The bread was getting soggy, and the meat and cheese had been stained by the black stuff. If he was going to do this, he was going to go all out.

He ripped about a fourth of the sandwich off and crammed it all into his mouth at once.

For a split second, it tasted alright, almost good. But that was very short lived as the liquid mold invaded his mouth with its rancid taste. It was bitter and sour at the same time, with an additional revolting acidic tang to it. The taste was worse than what he envisioned poop or rotting flesh to taste like. He retched, but willed himself not to puke. He choked a bit as he swallowed it, as he had barely chewed it.

“Mmm, that was really good.” he managed to stammer. 

“Boy, you’ve barely even touched it! We don’t waste food around here. Be polite and finish it.” Jack reached for seconds and swiped another sandwich off the tray. Black slime dripped into his beard as he tore into it.

Unfortunately for Carter, the quarter he had eaten wasn’t enough to satisfy Eveline, as she was frowning at both him and Wiley. 

“Finish it.” she ordered with anger evident in her voice.

_“Fuck.”_


	3. Chapter 3

Eveline had demanded that Carter and Wiley play with her after everyone ate their snacks. The rest of the Bakers had scattered, all going off to do different things.

Carter and Wiley were alone with Eveline, and they were at her mercy. If the situation didn’t have such a somber, unsettling vibe, it would be almost comical: two fully grown young men being bossed around and controlled by a ten year old girl. It was the kind of thing that would be funny in a movie, but there wasn’t a drop of humor here. Eveline needed to be kept happy, and if she became unhappy, she’d do a lot worse than merely throw a temper tantrum.

Thankfully she was currently content, playing in the cavernous front room with some of her toys. She had set up a small kid sized table, along with half a dozen chairs. Three of the chairs were occupied by stuffed animals wearing shiny, vibrantly colored party hats, but these animals weren’t having a tea party. A fourth stuffed animal sat in the middle of the table, and according to Eveline, the others were going to kill it because it had been naughty.

“There are rules here, and Derek the dalmatian broke them. He needs to be punished.” she explained.

Wiley, who’s stuffed animal was Steve the salamander, stared glumly at the table. He had been trying to make the best out of a bad situation by pretending to enjoy this macabre toy birthday party but had apparently given up on that. Now he looked like he’d rather be anywhere else and made no effort to hide that fact. Either Eveline hadn’t noticed this or else she had and just didn’t care for some reason. He made a lazy, half assed stabbing motion with his stuffed animal when she requested that he do so.

“And now, Derek’s left paw will be sawed off by Peter the penguin.” Eveline instructed.

Peter the penguin was Carter’s stuffed animal, but he was zoning out and didn’t really hear her order.

Carter had no idea how he had managed to choke down that appalling poison sandwich. The black stuff it was slathered with hadn’t killed him like he thought it might but it was wrecking havoc on his insides and he didn’t think he’d be able to keep it down much longer. He had started feeling sick about fifteen minutes after eating it, and now waves of relentless nausea were clawing at him. He was hunched over in his chair and clutching his mid section with his left hand.

Eveline gave him a knowing smirk. “What’s the matter? Do you feel sick?”

Carter nodded but didn’t say anything. He felt awful, and he had to think of some excuse to leave the house before he erupted. He thought about saying he wanted to go outside for a smoke, but since neither he nor Wiley were smokers, that probably wouldn’t work so he briefly racked his mind for an excuse that could potentially trick her. Upon choosing one from that list, he decided to test it out.

“So Eveline,” he began with some difficulty due to his rapidly rising nausea, “This has been really fun, but Wiley and I need to go soon.”

“I don’t want you to go.” Eveline didn’t even look up as she pretended that her stuffed animal, Megan the monkey, was strangling Derek the dalmatian.

“Maybe not, but we have to. We’ve got to get to that concert.” Wiley said even though that concert had probably already started. “Besides, this isn’t our house, we can’t stay here.” 

“You can stay as long as you’d like.”

Carter chose his next words very carefully. “That’s really nice of you, Eveline. But our friends are meeting us there, and they’ll be disappointed if we don’t show up. Your dad said he’d jump our car. Do you know where he is?”

“Daddy’s busy. He’s taking care of the other guests.”

“...Other guests?” Wiley asked uneasily, knowing he wouldn’t like the answer. These lunatics were probably keeping people locked up somewhere.

Before Eveline could respond, Carter interrupted and changed the subject. “If he’s busy, maybe we could go get our car battery and bring it back here.”

Eveline looked up and stared at him, like she was trying to determine what his angle was. 

“Hmm. I guess that’d be okay.”

The guys didn’t need to be told twice, but due to the weird nature of this house and its inhabitants, they didn’t want to make it too obvious. Instead, they got up and walked towards the front door at a normal speed as if they lived there and were just going to run some errands.

Carter felt dizzy as he got up and another intense wave of nausea rolled over him, but he fought through it. He only had to make it off the Baker’s property, then he could puke as much as he wanted.

The front door was quite strange. It had a three headed dog plate engraved into it and each head was a different color, which gave him the impression that all the components had to be there for it to work. The body and each head of the dog looked to have been painstakingly carved and detailed by hand.

“That’s my latest invention. Do you like it?” Lucas’ voice drifted from somewhere behind him.

Carter turned around to see Lucas perched on the dimly lit second floor balcony, looking down into the room below.

“When all three heads are in place, the door works just fine. But if I were to take one.....” he trailed off, laughing to himself as he did so.

Lucas’ face was once again hidden by the shadows and his ever present hoodie, but Carter could feel him staring once more. He was no homophobe and ordinarily wouldn’t care if another guy was checking him out, but Lucas was straight up creepy. If Lucas’ goal was to make Carter as uncomfortable as possible by nonverbal communication alone, he had succeeded.

Instead of responding, Carter opened the front door and darted through. Just as Wiley was about to follow, Eveline’s voice called out.

“He stays here. I want him to hang out with me.”

“Fuck that! You’re coming with me.” Carter assured him.

Eveline wasn’t having it. She grabbed Wiley by the hand, and Carter saw him go rigid at the contact. 

“No! Stay here!” she demanded.

Wiley copied her movements. He leaned forwards and latched onto Carter’s right wrist with his free hand. His blue eyes were filled with dread and the look he gave Carter was one of pleading and desperation. He was standing in the doorway, but it was if Eveline’s grasp had cemented his feet in place and was preventing him from moving.

“Please don’t leave me here. Don’t leave me with these people!” he begged as quietly as he could.

Carter was at a loss of what to do. He wanted more than anything for both him and Wiley to leave this place and never look back, but the reality was that Wiley was being held prisoner by a creepy and possibly demonic ten year old. With his longtime best friend in Eveline’s clutches and Lucas observing from above, Carter knew he couldn’t do anything drastic. These people were dangerous, all of them. If it came down to it, he figured he could take Lucas or Marguerite in a fight, but he knew he didn’t stand a chance in hell against Jack. And if Carter pissed off Eveline, she’d probably summon daddy to do her dirty work for her.

“I want to watch Inside Out. Lucas, will you set up your PS4 so me and Wiley can watch it?” Eveline asked. Her comment seemed innocent enough, but coming from her Carter wouldn’t be surprised if she was referring to a disembowelment themed snuff film instead of the Pixar kid’s movie.

“No problem Evie. The PS4 is set up in the den.” Lucas replied as he began to descend the stairs.

“Come on, let’s go.” Eveline tugged at Wiley’s hand to try and get him to follow her, but he held on to Carter’s wrist like his life depended on it.

“Don’t leave me Carter. Don’t leave!” he pleaded.

Carter looked directly into his friend’s fearful eyes and put his free hand on his shoulder. “I’ll come right back. I’ll get the battery and bring it here, okay? I’m not leaving without you Wiley. I’ll be back before you know it. I promise.” he meant every word. Not only would he come back, he’d come back with the police and have these psychos arrested.

As soon as he finished speaking, Wiley was jerked back and the front door slammed shut. The lock clicked audibly from the other side.

“Shit!” Carter yanked on the knob to try and force the door open, but it was no use. Access was denied. Lucas peeked through the glass and snickered at him, holding up a white dog’s head ornament. Behind him, Wiley was looking around nervously, like he was trying to plot an alternate escape route.

There was no point in dawdling. Carter needed to get help ASAP, so he quickly turned and started jogging back towards the path he had originally come on. Guilt overwhelmed him, and he felt like the shittiest friend in the universe for leaving Wiley with the Bakers. He tried to justify it by telling himself that there was nothing he could have done to stop Lucas and Eveline, which was probably true, but it still made him feel like a complete and total douchebag. He should have tried harder. All he could do was hope and pray that they really were going to simply watch Inside Out instead of doing something sinister. But how likely was that, considering the nature of the Bakers? Carter would probably return to find that Wiley had been turned inside out. Perhaps that’s what Eveline meant all along.....

Carter did his best to push out those bad thoughts, but they didn’t go away which only made him feel worse and more guilty. If Wiley died in the time he was gone it would be his fault.

Guilt wasn’t the only thing consuming him at the moment. As soon as he was off the Baker’s property, the nausea came rushing back full force. He doubled over and moaned as queasiness overwhelmed him. His stomach felt like it was being twisted in two directions at once and he gagged dryly.

Carter didn’t even try to fight it. Whatever was causing this, he wanted it out. He got down on his hands and knees and waited as strands of saliva dripped from his mouth. Thankfully he didn’t have to wait long. With the next retch, putrid brown vomit gushed from his mouth and splashed onto the ground in front of him. The taste was absolutely vile, and it just made him heave harder. He threw up copiously and repeatedly, one torrent after another. It came out forcefully enough that some of the acidic liquid got up into his nasal passages. After about five substantial waves, his eyes began to water and his stomach cramped with pain. He didn’t know where it was all coming from, as he was puking more than he had eaten. How much more could there be? He retched noisily and expelled a smaller wave of chunks before his body apparently decided that was enough.

Once he was sure he was done, he spat out the string of acidic mucus that was dripping from his lip ring and caught his breath. He felt like he had swallowed a sheet of sandpaper due to the stinging in his throat.

“Oh god..that sucked.” he sat back and waited for himself to recover a bit. The satisfying relief he felt was cut abruptly short when he made the mistake of looking at what he produced.

He was both horrified and revolted at what he saw. In the midst of the lake of puke were a bunch of black, slimy looking tendrils that had small vein like branches coming off of them. If that wasn’t repulsive enough, they were _moving_. They squirmed and writhed all over each other as if they were all separate beings, and the sight of them combined with the fact that they had been inside of him made Carter want to puke all over again.

“What the FUCK?!”

He quickly stood up and sent his foot down onto the strange squirmy things, crushing them under his boot. He smashed them over and over, but they didn’t seem phased by his attack at all. Several of the tentacles writhed out from underneath and began to climb up his boots, elongating and reaching for the cuff of his jeans. Carter realized with horror that they were about to slither up his pants and frantically tried to kick them off. 

“No! Get off! Get off!”

He flailed about in a panic as he tried to fling them off without actually touching them. As long as he kept moving around, they didn’t seem able to advance any further, but he feared that if he stopped prancing around they’d gain entry. He envisioned himself being swallowed and consumed by the black tendrils as they forced their way into every orfice, jamming themselves into his mouth, nose, ears and even up his ass. No way was he going to let that happen. 

He picked up a large stick and started hitting his own feet with it in an effort to remove the things. It seemed to work. Some of the tentacles got brushed off and the rest started flowing onto the stick.

Carter held the stick as far from himself as he could and stared at the slimy black tendrils in morbid fascination. Somehow, they seemed to be changing shape, as more of the tiny veiny appendages sprouted from them. The fact that they were still covered in his puke made it even more disgusting. 

He flung the stick far into the woods and ran away from the vicinity. Though it was likely all in his mind, he felt itchy all over, like he was being swarmed by a mass of invisible insects. He didn’t stop running until he reached his car.

It was just as he and Wiley had left it. He wasted no time wrenching the battery out from confinement. The quicker he got back to the Baker estate the better, but it may not have mattered much anyway. Carter knew he was fucked either way. Though he hadn’t seen any violence firsthand besides the pimp slap to Lucas’ face, he just knew that underneath his seemingly pleasant surface, Jack Baker was a volatile, hot tempered man who likely had at least half a dozen murders to his name. He probably had no intention of letting the guys go. And that little girl was simply beyond creepy. It wasn’t just the manipulation of her family and her morose interests. There was something else about her, something very off. Carter couldn’t figure out what exactly it was, but he hated it and her comment about Jack ‘taking care of the other guests’ made shudders go down his spine. Worse still, his all time best friend was currently alone with those deranged lunatics, and who knows what they were doing to him. 

Carter couldn’t let him down. He had no idea how they were going to get away from the Bakers, as it was highly unlikely that Jack was actually going to charge their battery like he had promised earlier. Perhaps he and Wiley could make a run for it once it was dark out, provided they weren’t locked up in cages or butchered before then.

The sun was setting, as the still greenish sky was considerably darker now. A small rumble of thunder sounded in the distance, reminding Carter of the incoming storm. As he looked at the darkening sky, he realized just how unnaturally quiet it was. The only sounds were the intermittent winds sweeping through the trees and the thunder that grew nearer. There was no buzzing of insects, no chirping of birds, nothing. The gators that had been on the shore before were now gone, as were all the birds and lizards that had been sunbathing with them. It was like they knew something awful was coming and were hiding from it.  
They had the right idea. Carter wished he could hide away from the Bakers. While he could run away right now and never look back, he couldn’t allow himself to do it. He had to go back for Wiley. If he didn’t he’d never be able to live with himself. Not wanting to waste any more time, he tightened his grip on the battery and started sprinting back towards the Baker estate.

 ******************************************************************************************************************************************************

The sun had almost completely set by the time Carter got back to the house, and he felt the first couple drops of rain come down. The front door was still locked thanks to Lucas, so he’d have to ring the doorbell and hope to be let in. Right before his finger touched the buzzer, he was startled as the door flew open. 

Marguerite stood in the doorway. Her eyes seemed darker and more unfocused, which made her look like she hadn’t slept in days. The change was subtle, but Carter picked up on it instantly. 

“Ah, you’re back. Come on in. Evie wants you to join us in the den.” she motioned for him to come inside.

She lead him to the den, and Carter almost passed out from joy. Wiley was perfectly alive, seemed unafraid and appeared to have all of his appendages intact. Eveline and Lucas were sitting on the sofa watching Inside Out, and Wiley was watching it as well from his position on the floor. His eyes were glazed over and he was transfixed on the screen. Marguerite mentioned something about needing to finish making dinner and left the room. Overall, there wasn’t even a trace of anything weird, creepy or sinister about the scene. It was as normal as normal could get.

Carter didn’t know if he wanted to laugh, cry or perhaps do both at the same time. Maybe he was wrong about the Bakers. They were weird no doubt about it and Eveline still creeped him out, but perhaps he had been too quick to judge them. What if they weren’t the murderous creepers he mistook them for? The black moldy shit still rang his alarm bells but maybe, just maybe, it was some local bacteria that they enjoyed eating for some bizarre reason. That didn’t explain the black slime tendrils he had puked up, but he didn’t want to spend time thinking about that.

His mind took him back to Eveline’s earlier comment about there being other guests. For all he knew, the Bakers ran a perfectly innocent bed and breakfast. It would make sense, as their house was huge. It would also explain why Marguerite had made so many of those repugnant sandwiches. 

Eveline still made him nervous though. There was _definitely_ something wrong with her. Most likely she was a sociopath.

Jack made his presence known as he strode into the room. He saw the car battery in Carter’s hand and smiled.

“Good to see you made it back without getting soaked. It’s raining cats and dogs out there now. Say, why don’t you come into the garage with me? I’ll charge that battery up, give you and your friend a lift back to your car and you’ll be on your way.” he offered. His voice was friendly, and his helpful attitude actually seemed genuine.

“Yeah, that’d be great. We really appreciate it.” Carter replied.

He followed Jack across the hallway and down a set of stairs to the garage entrance. Jack hit the top button on a nearby switch and the outer garage door started to lift up.

The garage was absolutely massive. It was a three stall at least, even though there was only one vehicle occupying it. There tons of shelves cluttered with boxes and other junk, and there was even a catwalk up above. Jack had tons of tools, and they were scattered all over his massive work bench.

“Sorry it took so long to do this, son. Maintaining this property is a lot of work, and weather like this can do some damage. That’s the price you pay for living in an old house.” Jack moseyed over to his work bench. “Let me just find those jumper cables. You’ll be on your way before you know it.”

Carter waited by the car. It was a big old white car, probably manufactured sometime in the early nineties. The hood was propped up and the ignition was on. He watched Jack open a couple drawers and rummage through them.

“Now where did I leave those darn things? Ah, here they are!” he withdrew the black and red alligator clip style cables and held them up.

Jack’s intentions were apparently courteous after all. He was going to charge Carter’s battery, then give him and Wiley a ride back to the car just like he had promised. Carter felt that he should apologize about being so apprehensive and weary of Jack and his family. After all, Carter was from the midwest, and not used to rural southern culture. Perhaps that’s just the way people were down here.

“Hey, I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to help me and Wiley out. I’m not from around here, so I’m sorry if I came across as kind of-”

The attack came so quickly he didn’t even realize what had happened. He suddenly became aware of a sharp pain on his forehead above his left eye. Stunned and confused, Carter reached up and touched the area. The first thing he noticed was that his black knit hat now had a hole in it, and the material was becoming wet around the edges. A trickle of warm liquid started leaking down into his eye, obscuring his vision with crimson, and it dawned on him with horror that he was bleeding.

Jack advanced towards him, smiling gleefully as Carter’s blood dripped from the jumper cables dangling in his hand.

Carter saw the next attack coming, but wasn’t quick enough to dodge it. Jack’s fist smashed into his face with a sickening crack and sent him toppling to the floor. Instinctively, Carter’s hands flew to his face as he groaned in pain. A coppery taste took over his mouth, and he turned his head and spat blood onto the concrete.

Jack stood over him in a menacing fashion. “You weren’t expecting that, were you boy?” he tossed his head back and laughed maliciously. “I’m going to have some FUN with you! Now, I like a fair fight. I’ll even let you take a crack at me. Go on. Get your worthless ass up off the floor and take your best shot!”

Carter quickly picked himself up and struck Jack across the face, knocking his glasses off and hearing the satisfying crunch of his knuckles bashing into his nose. He immediately punched Jack again as hard as he could, and upon seeing a spray of blood spurt from the man’s mouth, he made the fatal mistake of thinking he had the upper hand.

He couldn’t be more wrong. Even though his nose was crooked and his lower lip was split open, Jack was glaring at him with extreme dissatisfaction. 

“What the fuck was that? Don’t give me any of those pussy love taps! I said HIT ME like a real man, not some sissy faggot!” Jack spat as blood dripped freely from his busted lip. “Come on boy, my failure of a son hits harder than that, and he hits like a girl! What are you? Are you a man or a faggot?”

For a moment, Carter stared at him with his mouth agape. What kind of sadistic masochist was this guy? Jack was making it very obvious that this was his true side, and Carter had been a fool to let his guard down. It was a case of life or death, and Carter refused to be the one bleeding out onto the concrete. If Jack wanted pain, Carter was going to give him pain.

“What are you waiting for you little asshole? Hit me! Right here!” Jack pointed at his own head.

Carter’s hand closed around the nearest object: the wooden handle of an antique raking tool. It wasn’t some flimsy lightweight thing, it was one solid piece of metal with tines on the bottom.

With one movement, he obeyed Jack’s order and hit him with it. Several arcs of blood gushed up as the rake’s tines pierced Jack’s skull. He staggered backwards a few steps like he was in a daze as blood streamed down his busted face.

Carter waited for Jack to drop to the ground dead, but he didn’t. He stumbled about for a second, but then steadied himself. 

“Wow! Now THAT was a hit! Looks like you’ve got some fight in you after all!” his eyes were wide with deranged madness as he grabbed the rake and yanked the steel part out of his head with several disgusting cracks and squelches. Blood, tissue and brain matter clung to the tines in gory clumps, but Jack wasn’t the least bit phased. He started laughing hysterically just to add more nightmare fuel to the situation.

“Oh fuck me.........” Carter’s words were barely audible as he finally realized just how durable and seemingly superhuman his opponent was.

He couldn’t win this. Instantly, he turned and sprinted out of the garage, leaving the maniacal Jack behind him. Thinking quickly, he hit the button to close the door behind him. It wouldn’t buy him much time, but it should delay Jack long enough for him to grab Wiley and run out the door.

“Wiley! Come on, we need to go! We need to get out of here!” Carter shouted for his friend.

Wiley ran out of the den, then stopped in his tracks and stared at Carter silently, like he was examining him. He said nothing and oddly didn’t seem alarmed at all, even when he got a good look at Carter’s bloody face. That wasn’t like him.

“What’s wrong with you? We have to go now!” Carter pleaded desperately.

Wiley suddenly looked up, wide eyed, and Carter sensed someone else behind him. Before he could even turn around, he heard Marguerite’s screechy voice. 

“Got you!”

Something heavy was smashed into the back of Carter’s head, rendering him unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things aren't looking too good for Carter and Wiley, and it's only going to get worse. However, an ally will show up in the next chapter. Who should it be? Zoe or Mia?


End file.
